Mr William John Berriman, 23, was born in 1889, in the hamlet of Hellesveor near St Ives, Cornwall. His birth was registered in Penzance. The eldest son of Mr John Berriman (Farmer) and Mrs Sarah Berriman, he had a younger brother and sister.

He initially worked with his father, farming at Hellesveor but decided to emigrate to Michigan where he was to be employed as a miner. He was married to Annie Berriman (née Carbines).

He boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his brother-in-law William Carbines (a miner) and travelled in second class (ticket number 28425, £13). They were both bound for Calumet, Houghton County, Michigan and both were lost in the sinking.